Water voles and their burrows are fully protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act but Natural England can grant developers a licence that permits disturbance. In fact disturbance is the very name of the game; the licence allows vegetation to be removed from up to 50 metres of bank in order to drive water voles from areas where development is planned.
Continue reading “New research on water voles”
Back from our Christmas break with an interesting tidbit of scientific discovery from 2018.
Continue reading “Migration”
Many of our little songbirds abandon their territories in the winter and flock, sometimes in large numbers; but not the robin. Robins stick to and defend their territories right through the winter and their winter song is part of that defence.
Singing in winter is a high risk strategy. It uses a lot of energy when food resources are low but hanging on to a good territory right through the winter gives a robin an advantage in the spring when the breeding season begins. His winter song is shorter, quieter and altogther smaller than it will be come the spring.
Header photograph by Suzanne Humphries
We are posting the first part of our comment on RPS’s Preliminary Ecological Appraisal (PEA) of the Church Lane Site for two reasons: firstly the PEA seems particularly ill-informed about the park, the Lambrok and dismissive of their ecological importance; secondly, so that anybody who might like to comment before the public consultation ends on Dec 21st can use any of our data.
by DKG
The FoSP volunteers met in the car park at 09:30 for what was to be the last get together for 2018. The weather was on our side with some sunshine and just a gentle but chilly breeze.
Continue reading “Wednesday Work Party Report (12th Dec 2018)”
Our Famous Tree
A message from DKG
“Just to let you know, my photo of the lone oak with the cloud halo above it was shown on the BBC Weather report this morning”
The deadline for comments on RPS’s planning application 18/10035/OUT has been extended from the 14th to the 21st of December. The application had not been properly advertised at the beginning of the consultation period.
FoSCP feels strongly that development on this site will damage Lambrok Stream. There are protected and vulnerable species in the park that live or breed or feed in the Lambrok. If you feel the same way, please comment on Wiltshire Council’s planning website.
A seasonal robin from DKG to cheer us up on a cold day. Thanks DKG.
Joan and Patrick Jones are the chairman and treasurer of the Friends of Southwick Park. They emailed us:
To all of the Country Park Team and all the wonderful extra helpers.
Joan and I would just like to extend our very biggest thanks to all concerned for the marvellous work that you performed on Sunday. We pulled in to the Country Parkon our way back today and were astounded by the amount and quality of the work you had done. Talk about “Dog poo fairies,” we reckon it was the action of “CAR PARK SUPER HEROES”.
Thank you all so much and we promise to be with you in March. See you Wednesday.
Kindest regards
Joan and Patrick
This is tree number 5552: an old pollarded oak standing in the eastern-most corner of Sleeper Field.
by DKG and Ian B
Today saw the FoSCP volunteers giving up their Sunday lie-in to turn out at eight o’clock in the morning to fill the potholes in the car park. The early start was intended to keep disruption to the park users to a minimum and we apologise for the inconvenience
FoSCP now has a phone number for text and voicemail.
0774708798
Use it to report litter, things broken or damaged, and abandoned or dumped; the phone will be checked daily by one of our volunteers.
Continue to report antisocial behaviour to the police; their contact details are in the menu.
We received this picture and the following mail today, Wednesday December 5th:
These 2 men, both wearing black jackets, one pushing a pram, one with a cream satchel bag: also with 2 all black, skinny lurcher/ ratter like dogs were firing stones or slingshotting the 2 ducks on the pond today at approx 12:10.
Continue reading “Who ARE these people?”
Wood pigeons (Columba palumbus) are our largest and most common pigeon. Gregarious, very adaptable and given to flocking in enormous numbers at this time of year, they are an everyday sight in British towns and countryside.
In towns they seem unafraid but in the park they are shy and wary. Often the first indication that they are there at all is the loud clattering and clapping of their wings as they take off and fly away. Their call is the lovely, familiar background noise of spring and summer.
Of all the mammals on our species list, only the bats and the hedgehogs hibernate. We have found the tiniest piece of evidence that there might be dormice in the park, if so, that would be a third hibernating species.
We think we already have enough volunteers but if we need more, we will ask here, on Facebook and on parkrun’s social media. We apologise for any inconvenience.
Yesterday’s plump and cuddly grey squirrel sent us into an afternoon of Google-based research; here are ten things you may not have known about Sciurus carolinensis.
Continue reading “10 facts about grey squirrels”
One of the park’s grey squirrels to cheer us up on a dismal day.
Who did this?
Continue reading
by Sarah Marsh
A new species has been spotted in the Country Park.
Continue reading “Notes from Southwick Country Park”
Come and join us on Tuesday 27th. We meet in the car park at 9:30am; you’ll need sturdy footwear, thorn-proof gloves and a mug. We provide the coffee to put in the mug and there will be biscuits.
There are three species of vole in Britain: the short-tailed or field vole, the bank vole and the water vole, which is the largest of the three and by far the rarest. Water voles (Arvicola amphibius) have experienced one of the most rapid and serious declines of any British wild mammal ever…
Continue reading “Water Voles”
The Friends of Southwick Country Park will be manning a stall at Hope Nature Centre’s Christmas Market this evening. It begins at 6.00pm; come and look us up.
Southwick Country Park Nature Reserve 